Technology Can Give a Self Storage Facility a Leg Up on the Competition

Computers are our friends. They are the wave of the future; heck—they are the future. When used properly they can be a tremendous benefit to any project. In one way, shape, or form they are going to be involved with just about everything. Yes, everything—even the self storage industry.

Many companies already make use of modern technology of course; it’s pretty much impossible not to these days. Where many are really benefitting from it is in the use of self storage management software. With the help of such programs self storage facilities can greatly improve the efficiency of their operations and the overall customer experience.

Recently Five Star Storage (based out of Fargo, North Dakota) decided to install and begin using E-SoftSys’s management software, Self Storage Manager (SSM).

“With the exponential growth of our self storage business, we did some extensive research and analysis on various packages and eventually concluded that Self Storage Manager was the best fit, as it offered the right blend of functionality and flexibility to meet our business needs….” said Ben Hendricks, VP of Operations at Five Star Storage.

E-SoftSys is a leader when it comes to self storage technology and especially management software. They are not the only company with useful technology.

StorTrack is a new Silicon Valley startup that offers a unique service to its clients on a subscription basis. In an industry with over 50,000 facilities vying for your business it can be difficult to know what to charge. You want to make a tidy profit, but you don’t want to overcharge either and drive potential customers to your cheaper competition.

Now if only there was a way of tracking the rates that the competition is charging so that your facility can be sure it is charging a fair market rate…

StorTrack can do that for you.

Before StorTrack, companies were forced to call around in order to discover what rates the competition charged. Now, with the help of this software, that information is just a few key strokes away.

“If you make a random decision about pricing, who knows if you are leaving money on the table,” StorTrack’s general manager, John Tilly said.

By typing in the radius desired users can see how many self storage facilities are in the desired area as well as how much each one is charging. It can also assist in the development of new facilities.

“We’ve had a number of subscribers who are planning to launch or develop new territories. They are looking up locations to see what pricing conditions are like in that area,” Tilly said.

So not only does technology help manage a self storage facility it helps them develop and grow.

About Tony Gonzalez

Tony Gonzalez has enjoyed a prosperous career in general contracting but has decided to complete his college degree in - of all things - sociology - and enjoys blogging about his daily observations of our "human society" and other musings about life and people. He has a particular interest around the shifting economy and how society reacts to downsizing changes, not only in the "contracting" world, but in the areas of moving/storage/rental, etc.